View Full Version : My fianc? Wants to adopt my son when we get married.how do I begin the proceedings?
nroberts82
Mar 21, 2009, 11:36 AM
My situation I'm sure is not typical but not un-typical either. My sons father is in prison and has been gone since I was pregnant. He has not even tried to contact me in almost 3 years. My fiancé is in the army and wants to put us with us as a family. How do I start proceedings on the adoption? Who do I need to contact? Will his biological father need to sign over his rights?
Synnen
Mar 21, 2009, 12:22 PM
You need to get the biological father to sign over his rights BEFORE you can do anything else, really.
The fact that he's in prison may help to get an involuntarily termination, though.
You need a lawyer for this--every state's laws are different, and you need someone you can give ALL the details of your case to, who can help you through all the legal hurdles you have to jump to get this to happen.
stevetcg
Mar 21, 2009, 01:10 PM
You will need to get married first and in some states there will be a waiting period of up to a year before he can adopt. After that, your lawyer will handle it all. Assuming the bio-father is cooperative, it will be easy.
ScottGem
Mar 21, 2009, 02:17 PM
You start by shopping for a lawyer. When you retain an attorney he will take you through every step of the way. He will explain the requirements you need to meet for the adotpion, the steps need to get the father's rights terminated and everything else.
By the way, if you had read through some of the similar threads in this and the Family Law forum, you would see that your situation is NOT atypical.